This and the op’s initial wish to make Dorico aware of tonal roots could be combined to have Dorico set the key (Ionian/Aeolian) and the accidentals that go with a mode other than Ionian/Aeolian on its own.
… I think that’s a good idea 
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Key signatures are not a way to minimize accidentals (IMO) […]
Oh yes, they are IMO
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Because a key signature typically relates to both major and minor - e.g. one sharp can be either G major or E minor. That’s before even thinking about modes or modulations.
Key signatures are of course about minimising accidentals in a score to make it easier to read. The music at a given point might be in a different key to the one(s) indicated by the key signature.
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Baroque music frequently uses Dorian or Mixolydian spellings – usually one flat fewer in minor keys and one sharp fewer in major keys. The former certainly makes a lot of sense for minor scales, where the sixth and seventh are often raised.
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Why is minimizing accidentals desirable? I’m being serious. Why is that more desirable than communicating the tonal center to the player? Sure, there have been various modal and nonstandard trends throughout the history of music, but performers are used to open key, or a key signature to indicate major or minor, including all variants. Are you really suggesting a key signature of Eb, F#, Bb, and C# for a D Flamenco mode? A key signature of only G# for E Freygish?
There are a few reasons why performers hate nonstandard key sigs. There is a very famous (in the cognitive psychology world anyway) article by George Miller from 1956 titled “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information.” This is a gross generalization, but basically most competent adults can remember approx. 7 chunks of information at once. In film music, studio time is very expensive so most film scores now are open key. Film composers don’t want the performers to use any “chunks” on remembering a key signature and use them all on getting the best performance on the first take. Minimizing accidentals is certainly not a desirable thing in this situation at all.
For experienced musicians the brain processes a key signature as one “chunk.” Eb minor I know is 6 flats and could name and play them without having to think about it. When Ligeti throws this at me, I have to use up two “chunks” to remember C# and Ab, leaving one less “chunk” available for other aspects of musical performance:
I’m not a brass player, but I know brass players in particular hate nonstandard key sigs. A very amateur copying mistake is to use the key sig of C in a score rather than open key, resulting in a key sig of D in a Bb Trumpet part, a key sig that may have nothing to do with the music. The cognitive dissonance this creates definitely affects their performance as brass players must “hear” the lines in their head before playing them. Any time I’ve been at a rehearsal where something like this has happened, the trumpet players always complain loudly about it as it messes with their ability to accurately play their part. A key sig that doesn’t accurately convey the tonal center is definitely a detriment here.
If I have a piece in G Dorian, then all the E naturals in the music are a feature, not a bug. The key sig of two flats indicates the tonal center to the player, and the naturals indicate the mode. If you are recreating a piece and want to keep the key signature as it was for historical accuracy then fine, but if you are writing new music for modern musicians then this key sig convention (or open key) will lead to the best performance of the music as it is what performers have come to expect.
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Yes and come to think of it it does irk me to be typesetting in the “wrong” key so maybe the OP has a point.
I understand that. That’s not my point. My point is the panel in question serves no real purpose. Why is it there?
Apologies - I assumed this was a panel to select a key signature, rather than one to display the ones currently use for a flow. In which case I can’t really answer.
It’s just a quick way of accessing key signatures you’ve already used within that flow, for reuse. I notice that the equivalent time signatures section shows beaming details etc. when you roll your mouse over them, so maybe this key signatures section could adopt similar behaviour in future.